Hat
by SkitScratched
Summary: Sometimes, I wish I was able to avoid the chaos that the Ds bring. And then they do something to make it all worth it. Then again, considering what I am, I was probably going to get sucked in either way. Or: In which an SI-OC is the Pirate King's Straw Hat. (Summary is being considered for further improvement.)
1. Prologue

**Summary:** No one ever said that it'd be so difficult to look after idiots. Though, really, with these guys, I should have expected it. Or: In which an SI is the Pirate King's Straw Hat.

* * *

It's a nice day today. Calm, sunny. It's the perfect day to go out for a walk.

Oh wait. _I don't have legs_.

Yep. I don't have legs, or arms, or a living body. How the hell I still have a consciousness is a complete mystery

It wouldn't be so bad if I could speak to someone once in awhile. Except I can only talk to people who wear me.

Hmm? Wear me? Is that what you're asking made-up-audience-in-my-head-I-talk-to? Well that's because I am not alive, but I'm also not a ghost.

I am a Hat.

Yeah, you heard me right. Hat with a capital H.

Don't judge me! I'm a Hat that remembers being a human! How much more special does a hat need to get to earn that? Not at all, that's what. Now stop distracting me.

Where was I…? Oh right! I am a Hat - a straw hat to be precise - and because I am a Hat, I have no mouth to speak with, no limbs to move with, no eyes to see with. I can still feel my surroundings, but that's limited to about a mile of distance at any one time. It's not all that useful when there's not a single intelligent soul around.

However! There is ONE way, I can communicate with the outside world. Care to guess what it is?

Hey! No need to be so rude! Jeez, and here I was trying to involve you in my internal monologue. See if I ask you anything ever again.

Well, anyways, you're right. I did say earlier (I did NOT forget! Shut up!) that I can talk to people who wear me. And it's not just that!

When someone wears me, I can see what they see, taste what they taste. Basically, I'm connected to their body on an intimate level.

No they are NOT my body puppets! I can't make them do anything, I just experience what they do.

Anyways, I have a theory. Since I am so closely connected to these people when I'm on their heads, my thoughts spill over to theirs and I hear theirs in kind. That's the only reason I could figure out for why I can only talk to those people anyways.

Why don't I then? Ahehe… I _might_ have gotten too excited when I realized what I could experience if a person wears me. And, well, I might have been branded cursed after the person I belonged to at the time freaked out and tried to burn me. _I_ don't even know how I did that. I panicked and all I could think about was how I _really really_ didn't want to find out if I could die as a hat.

Which leaves me here. In the middle of an empty field. Alone. With no people within the mile of distance I could feel.

Yeah. This really bites.

* * *

 **So, yeah. This started when I was reading an SI-OC Insert called _Tell it to the Marines_ by Tsume Yuki (It's awesome, go check it out!) and I thought it would be awesome if Luffy's actions could have been influenced by someone who knows what's going to happen and doesn't hesitate to change things. Only problem was, I couldn't figure out who would be able to do that without being a Mary-Sue like character. Especially since they would need to be by his side near 24/7. Then it hit me. What does Luffy refuse to be separated from at all times? HIS HAT. Only. It was also the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger's hat. And it spiraled on from there. **

**I'm not going to be spending ridiculous amounts of time on this, but I will write for it whenever the mood strikes me. I like it enough not to drop it anytime soon, but I do have other things to work on.**

 **The POV will switch from First-Person to Third Person starting the next chapter. It will keep switching, though there will be more of the latter than the former.**

 **The next chapter will be up in a day or so, and I'll try to keep up with this. I just got the idea and I need to write, write, write! I don't have a beta though and I don't intend to get one just yet for this story, so that'll slow me down a bit since I'll have to go through things carefully.**

 **Kudos to _This Bites_ by Xomniac/The Cross-Brain, in case you don't get the reference at the end. (Though really, who doesn't know about that frankly godly story?)**

 **Comments, Questions, Concerns? Please Review.**


	2. Gol Arc: Inception

**Summary:** Sometimes, I wish I was able to avoid the chaos that the Ds bring. And then they do something to make it all worth it. Then again, considering what I am, I was probably going to get sucked in either way. Or: In which an SI-OC is the Pirate King's Straw Hat.

* * *

Why hello there voice-I-made-up. Where have you been? I need to tell someone about the _excruciatingly painful_ ordeal I just went through.

How dare you! Of course I can feel pain! I may be a Hat, but that doesn't mean I don't have feelings!

Anyways, my story.

So it was just a normal day like any other when a random man stumbled into my clearing and happened upon me. What Luck!

Only, he didn't bother to put me on at all, no matter how much I silently begged him to. Though, maybe he could feel that… I don't know! I can't see how people see me!

Anyways, he may have not put me on, but he didn't leave me there either. He tucked me under his arm and took me with him back to his cart. Apparently, he's a merchant of - you guessed it! - _hats._

I don't claim to understand why someone would be a hat merchant of all things, but at least I wasn't put on top of that pink monstrosity he had. That was the feathered bicorne, Sergi. Poor, poor Sergi. May you soon be bought so you would not have to suffer anymore.

So I traveled with the merchant - I think his name was Beanie or something like that - for that last year. I got to see so many different places! It was very interesting, even if I still wonder how he got the money to travel to so many different islands with how little he made.

BUT! That isn't the ordeal I wanted to tell you about. No, _that_ began yesterday…

* * *

"Fucking bastards." Beanie the merchant grumbles, squinting at the hooligans he could rapidly see running from his store. "Think that a new merchant around here is an easy mark, do they? Well I sure showed them!"

 _Yeah, you did. I think half the town heard you "show them". Dear God man, have you never heard of volume control? Ah, what am I expecting. You've been like this since I've met you._

"It's going to take me another day to open!" Beanie continues to rant. "I should have taken Mother's advice and joined the Navy. At least then I wouldn't just be scraping by with the few hats I sell."

 _You really should have. I don't know why you decided as a kid to be a hat merchant, but I severely doubt that you thought it through. You really should try to branch out into some other product market._

Beanie disappears into the back of his shop and leaves his counter unattended. With the shop door wide open because the thugs earlier broke it down.

 _You idiot! This is why so many people think you're an easy mark! You try to act like an experienced and badass old man when you're clearly a forgetful middle-aged man who's going through a midlife crisis!_

The sound of boots pounding the stone road outside fill the shop, slowly growing louder and louder. A black haired youth skids into the shop and frantically looks around.

"Gotta hide, gotta hide." He mutters and dives into a pile of yet to be organized hats. Including a certain straw Hat.

 _Oi! Oi! I can clearly see that you're not hiding well at all! Your feet are sticking out at the bottom of us! And watch what you're squishing! That was nearly me you know! Ah, except for The Pink One. Please, feel free to get rid of that monstrosity. Do us a favor and rip it to shreds and then burn it so it may not spread its Pinkness to the rest of the world._

He manages to cover himself not a minute too soon because a trio of marines follow him into the shop. The stampede of their fellow pursuers keep going, clearly searching for the male that dived to hide amongst the hats.

"I don't see him." A cross looking marine with a scar across his nose said.

"I'm sure he ran in here." A stringy looking man protests.

"Well then, where is he?" The rat like man demands, looking around. "I swear recruit, if this is another one of you hair-brained prank's I'll have you assigned to bathroom duty for the next year!"

Stringy breaks out into a cold sweat and swallows thickly. "Yes sir, Warrant Officer Mizune!"

"Hey wait." Scarface points at the boots beneath the hats. "What are boots doing in a hat store."

Silence.

"I've been caught!" The black haired man shouts as he scatters the hats off him. A great deal of them fall onto the marines and obscures their vision, but the straw Hat manages to get caught on an errant nail sticking out of the building's ceiling by a strand of straw.

 _Ouch! That hurts bastards! And fight somewhere else! I can't afford for this man's livelihood to get destroyed! Who knows when I'll be able to hitch a ride again?!_

Instead of running for the door, like a sensible person would have, the man runs at the marines and manage to knock Stringy and Rat-man out. Stupidly, this let Scarface have complete access to the man's back and he had the presence of mind to take out his pistol and start shooting.

Fortunately for his target, this was the moment that the strand of straw keeping the straw Hat hooked to the ceiling snapped. It got in the way of the bullet and redirects it enough to shoot past the side of the man's head instead of through it.

"Lucky~!" The man sings-songs as he punches Scarface's lights out, absentmindedly picking up the straw Hat that inadvertently saved his life as well.

 _Lucky? What the fuck do you mean "Lucky?" That hurt like a bitch! I have a hole in my brim! How the fuck can I withstand fire, but not a bullet? Stop poking it dammit!_

"YOU!"

The man turns to see Beanie come out of the backroom, furious beyond words. Literally. He was opening and closing his mouth but nothing came out.

"Ah, well, sorry for the trouble." The man bows. "Thank you for letting me take shelter in your shop. I have to get going now so see you!" He dashes off.

 _Oi! Oi! Leave me there! Don't take me with you!_

The man ducks into an alleyway some blocks from the store he just left. "Ah, that was fun!"

 _Fun? FUN? You call nearly getting killed "fun"? WHY didn't you leave me with the nice safe hat merchant?_

He looks at the hat in his hands and flips it. " You must be a lucky one, huh?" He fingers the bullet hole. "Shouldn't be too hard to fix this up either."

 _You better fix me up. It's all your fault I got hurt in the first place. Also, who talks to a hat? Not that I don't appreciate it, but seriously, there's no way you can know I can think._

He grins. "Looks like we'll be traveling together!" He places it on his head.

 _:: Suuuure, we will. ::_

He rips it off his head and stares at the straw Hat. "Eh?" He sticks a finger in his ear. "Did I just hear that right?"

He places it back on his head.

 _:: What? Do you normally hear disembodied voices? Cuz I don't know if I really want to be worn by a madman. ::_

He blinks. "So I'm not imagining my hat speaking then."

 _::No shit dumbass. Honestly, you should just turn around and take me back to Bernie or Beanie. Whatever, the hat merchant. ::_

His eyes somehow sparkle. "You mean that he has other hats that talk?!"

 _:: Nope, just me. I'm one of a kind. Or at least, I've never met another hat that could think. I wish I could though. Might not be so bad sharing experiences. ::_

"COOOL!" He cheers. "I'm definitely keeping you!" He pauses. "Wait, can I keep you?"

 _:: I'm a Hat - note the capital. The capital is important - what do you think."_

"Well yeah," He shifts his weight, "But you have your own mind, so I can't just call ownership of you, can I?"

 _:: ._.. _You're the first person to even consider that. Most people just try to destroy me or drop me the moment they hear me speak. ::_

"That's awfully rude of them, isn't it?" He asks.

 _:: Yeah... I guess it is. ::_

 _:: ... I suppose that if you want to take me with you, I wouldn't protest. It would be nice to be able to talk to someone for a change. ::_

"Awesome! I got a Hat!" He pumps his fist in the air. "So what's your name?"

 _:: My name? ::_

"Yeah!" He nods. "I gotta call you something. I can't just call you "Hat" all the time."

 _:: ... Hehehe. You're really strange, but I think I like it. I don't really have a name, so why don't you give me one? ::_

"You sure?"

" _Why not? Fitting for my journey with a new person to begin with them naming me."_

"Hmmm." He places his chin on his fist, thinking, then snaps his fingers. "I got it! How about "Felix". It means Lucky."

 _:: You still going on about that? ::_

"What do you mean?"

 _:: I'm not blind to the world around me you know. I "saw" and "heard" everything since you came into the store. By the way, it was really stupid of you to leave your back open like that. ::_

"You can do that?"

 _:: Mmhm. Well, it's not bad for a name. Alright. Felix it is. ::_

"Nice to meet you Felix." He grins. "My name's Gol D. Roger."

… _Well shit._

* * *

 **I'm going to be speeding through this Arc pretty quickly. For all that I can see the potential it has, I started this because I wanted Luffy interaction. I'll mostly focus on certain important character interaction moments in the Manga/Anime. Time will be skipping around a lot. I might make a spin off series detailing more experiences if something motivates me to do so. Right now though, I can only eagerly await for Luffy.**

 **I apologize for any mistakes I didn't catch as I'm doing the editing myself.**

 **Comments, Questions, Concerns? Please Review.**


	3. Gol Arc: Serendipity Silver

**Summary:** Sometimes, I wish I was able to avoid the chaos that the Ds bring. And then they do something to make it all worth it. Then again, considering what I am, I was probably going to get sucked in either way. Or: In which an SI-OC is the Pirate King's Straw Hat. (Summary is being considered for further improvement.)

* * *

What? Don't you think that getting shot constitutes as an excruciatingly painful ordeal?

Haaah? What do you mean "Suck it up, you're a Hat"?! I'd like to see you get shot and call it anything less than traumatizing.

Well screw you too! I don't know why I made you such a jerk.

Oh you have something else you want to say? LALALA I'M NOT LISTENING.

Alright fine. What is it?

Huh. That's actually an intelligent question.

So, the thing is, it turns out that the way I was "seeing" the world was actually Observational Haki. It makes a weird amount of sense too. I am incapable of seeing with any sort of vision, but Haki is Willpower and though I do not have a body, I most certainly have Will. It is what keeps me aware even though I am supposed to be inanimate and non-sentient. After explaining it to him, Roger and I were able to figure out the basics of all three Hakis.

Speaking of whom, Roger was the tipping point. I finally realized that this world is the world of _One Piece_ and that I was his infamous straw hat, now Hat. Though, how would I have guessed that? The only things I ever heard about were the marines and pirates and the large amount of sea travel used as the primary mode of locomotion. I mean, there was that one time where Beanie had me within a meter of a map when he was giving directions to a traveler and mentioned the Grand Line, but I thought he was talking about a really thick line on the paper that indicated an area to go around.

...Okay fine. I really should have noticed earlier.

ANYWAYS, The two of us traveled alone for a while. Roger hitched a ride from ship to ship. He was determined to finish traveling through all the Blues within the next two years. Apparently, he already scoured the North, and East Blues. The two of us met in the South and the West was his final travel point. And then he told me that he wanted to travel the Grand Line.

* * *

 _:: No. ::_

"Aw come ooon!" Roger whines in the cargo hold of the latest ship he managed to worm his way onto. "It'll be fun!"

 _:: The last time you said that Roger, you dived head first into a pit of carnivorous, gigantic squirrels. No. ::_

"Ah, that worked out fine." Roger dismisses. "We got a lot stronger from that too."

 _:: No. ::_

"It'll be an adventure…" Roger tries to entice Felix.

 _:: I reference the event prior. No. ::_

"Are you afraid?" Roger needles. "Is that it? Did the tales of the Grand Line we heard frighten you away?"

 _:: Roger, you more than anyone else should know that I fucking loved those stories. All that hilarious death and destruction… No. The reason I refuse to let you just go and traverse the Grand Line is because you want to do it with nothing more than a fishing boat and the two of us. If you do that, we'll both die. Or rather, you will and I'll find out if Hats_ can _die. ::_

"Oh, is that all." Roger easily brushes aside Felix's concerns. "We're plenty strong. We can totally handle it."

 _:: We have a basic grasp of Haki by sheer luck and can take on most of the people we might encounter on the Grand Line, yes. But the Grand Line is a sea that will kill a fishing boat with no problem. The only way that it might, emphasis on might, survive is if we reinforce it with Haki and even then, one of us will have to maintain it at all times, which neither of us is capable of doing. That's not even mentioning the weather."_

"The weather?"

 _:: On the Grand Line, weather can change at the drop of a hat, pun fully intended. A ship would have to be able to withstand harsh and violent weather. We would also need a Log Pose not to get hopelessly lost in there. ::_

"A Log Pose?" Roger pauses and asks, "And how do you know this stuff anyways?"

 _:: I'm a Hat that can think and you're questioning my knowledge, now? After all the times I used it to help us? No. Forget it. Don't answer that, I'll never understand your lines of thought. How I know it doesn't matter. The point is, we're nowhere near ready to traverse the Grand Line. Ask me again when you have a boat and at least one crewmate that's strong enough to survive. ::_

"Strong enough?" Roger prods the brim of his Hat. "Felix? Felix? Don't ignore me!"

The door to the cargo hold opens and a curiously blank faced sailor steps through. He actively ignores Roger's wave hello, picks up what he came for, and firmly shuts the door behind him.

"...I blame you for this."

 _Sigh._

* * *

Roger frowns. "Yeah. Okay. Thanks anyways." The ridiculously buff and tattooed guy walks off, fully intent on achieving his dream to be a seamstress after conversing with Roger. "Man, why is it so hard to find a strong guy with a ship." Roger complains aloud, gathering weirded out looks.

 _:: Because it's not going to be that easy. You're probably going to need to get a ship first, and then recruit when you look more capable than you do right now. And how many times do I have to tell you! Just send your thoughts at me! Do you want someone else to think you're cra- you're insa- you're hearing voices? You don't need talk, just thi- well actually, that might explain a lot of things. ::_

"Oh, Ha Ha." Roger rolls his eyes, takes off his hat and spins it on his finger. He walks towards the docks, trusting his friend's advice. "You're absolutely no help. "

 _:: Stop spinning me! ::_

"Never." Roger freezes. "Hey, do you feel that?"

 _:: Feel what? I can't feel anything with the way you're turning me in circles! ::_

Roger dashes off, _still_ spinning his hat around his finger. He skids to a stop once he sees a blond haired man lounging in a boat and drinking a flask of some kind of drink. The sea breeze blows across Roger's face and carries with it the strong scent of alcohol. Roger's grin nearly splits his face. "He's strong!" He crows, absolutely ecstatic. .

"Heeeey!" Roger calls out, waving the hand that had his Hat in it at the man, heading closer to talk. "That's a nice ship!"

The man shrugs. "I stole it. My house burned down so I'm living here."

 _:: Asshole, stop spinning me already! ::_

" _Fine, fine."_

 _:: ….Huh. Now that I can sense him, you're right. He is pretty strong. ::_

" _Strong enough to go to the Grand Line?"_ Roger thinks hopefully.

 _:: ...Mm. Maybe not the New World just yet, but he'll be able to handle most of Paradise. All of us would need to become Haki masters to handle that; or in his case, learn Haki and then master it. ::_

"Yeah? And what's your name?"

"Reyleigh."

"I'm Roger!" He says cheerfully! "I think we were destined to meet, Rayleigh!'

 _Oh you have noooo ideaaaa._

Rayleigh jerks his flask from his mouth slightly, skeptically. "Destined?"

Roger beams and offers, "Do you want to turn the world upside down with me?"

"Huh? The world?" Rayleigh looks at Roger both stunned and amused at once. "Hahaha. Who are you and where are you from? Go away!"

Roger ignores him. He never took no for a first answer. Most of the time he never even took it for a final answer. "Your ship is small, but it looks like it can endure storms if you handle it right. It's perfect for us to set sail in!"

"Us? Set sail?" Rayleigh asks, narrowing his gaze, outraged. "Don't decide for me! Why should I join you?"

"Like I said," Roger rolls his eyes, intent on bulldozing over Rayleigh to get him to join them. "To turn the world upside down!"

He hops aboard the ship and gives Rayleigh a cheeky grin. "Alright, let's set sail, Rayleigh!"

"When did I ever say I would join you?!" He yells, getting up for the first time and pulling Roger from the sails. "And stop messing with my ship!"

"Ho?" Roger tilts his head. "So you care that much about this ship then?"

 _:: Roger, I can hear what you're planning - you're thinking too loudly - and I fully support this idea. Go for it! Make him want to join us by annoying him until he starts to see it as his responsibility to look out for you. I could sure use the help. ::_

"Nyahahaha!" Roger laughs and turns and points a finger in Rayleigh's face. "Then, I'm taking this ship! And if you want it back you have to join me!"

"Who said you could just take it?" Rayleigh asks darkly, glowering at the audacious man before him and raising his fists for a fight.

"Me." Roger gives him a confident look. "You're strong, I can feel it, but I'm much stronger."

 _:: Eh, that's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it? You'd be… about 60 percent likely to beat him in a fight without Haki. Haki is the ultimate cheat. ::_

" _That still means I would win!"_

 _:: No, it just means that you're more likely to beat him. ::_

 _However, I don't doubt that, win or lose, you'll get him to join us._

"You bastard." Rayleigh growls. "Fine, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get."

Roger smiles. "That's the spirit! Then how about I up the ante?" He taps his chest with a finger. "I'll give you a clear shot. If you can hurt me, I'll leave and won't bother you to join again. If you can't then you'll join my crew!"

 _:: You're seriously going to use Haki for something like this? Well, I suppose it's not completely unreasonable. We do need him, but really? I know you're a sore loser, but to resort to something he absolutely cannot beat… ::_

"That arrogant?" Rayleigh smirks running a hand through his hair, confident that he was being underestimated for his lounging earlier.

"Nope!" Roger instantly denies. "I'm just know you won't be able to win!"

Rayleigh carefully considers the man before him. On one hand, he had the sheer gall to say his punch will do shit against him, and that's just not going to fly. Rayleigh knows he's strong and he won't stand for being disrespected like that. He doesn't really want to follow anyone either, but.. What this guy said about turning the world on its head… When he said it, it sounded more real than anything else in the world. And really, what has he really got to lose? He's been drifting from island to island for a while and he can't deny he's getting bored. It might be interesting to see what someone like him could accomplish.

"If you win,-" Rayleigh starts.

"I will!"

"-then I will join you on the condition that I can leave whenever I want." Because he's not stupid and he's not going to agree to someone else's terms when he's the one being challenged.

Roger opens his mouth.

 _:: Wait! What would happen if he leaves a few minutes out to sea and strands us without a boat or supplies? Change the condition to- ::_

"Okay, but you have to make sure I have at least five other crewmates, a ship and supplies to survive until the next island before you do." Roger counters as instructed. "You can't leave before that."

"Eh." Rayleigh shrugs. "That's fair. So we doing this then?"

"Yep!" Roger spreads his arms. "Come at-"

Rayleigh strikes before he finishes speaking, but it wouldn't have changed a thing. A moment later and Rayleigh is rubbing his fist as he stares with shock at the fading black on Roger's chest. "A Devil Fruit?" Rayleigh mutters.

"Nope." Roger shakes his head. "It's called Haki. But that's not important right now. You're joining my crew right?"

"I guess I am." Rayleigh muses, a faint smile on his lips as he relaxes again. If nothing else, he might be able to get this guy to teach him how to do that before he leaves. "So where exactly are we going 'Captain'?"

"Before that, you have to meet our other crewmate." Roger takes his Hat off and proudly presents it to Rayleigh. "Meet Felix."

 _:: Rooogerrr… What are you doing? I know you can hear me! You can't just turn off the Voice of All Things! ::_

Rayleigh stares at the Hat. Then at Roger. Back to the Hat. "Did I just agree to join a madman?" He mutters to himself.

"Hey!" Roger protests. "I'm not crazy! Here, I'll show you!" He slaps his straw Hat on Rayleigh's head.

 _:: Hey! Be more careful when handling me you bastard! ::_

Rayleigh adopts a freaked out look on his face. "What the fuck?"

 _:: Oi, no need to worry. You're not going insane. I'm just the Hat on your head. And yes, I'm fully aware of how outrageous that sounds. Hey, maybe you really are going mad and I'm just trying to keep you from getting the help you need to get rid of me. ::_

"Don't chase him away when we just got him!" Roger argues. "At least he didn't try to immediately destroy you!"

 _:: If he tried to do that, I would have crushed him. We both have_ that _one after all. And I'm not forgetting the fact that you revealed what I was without asking me first! I'll find a way to get back at you for that, so help me Goda. ::_

"What kind of crazy did I just get pulled into?" Rayleigh asks himself, about five kinds of done right then.

Regardless, Roger answers anyway with a laugh and a brilliant grin. "Only the best kind!"

* * *

 **Yeah, so I'm not entirely happy with this chapter yet, but I thought "Fuck it." and decided to post it up now because it doesn't look like there's anything really wrong with it other than I feel like I need to add or change something. It's probably just writer's anxiety or whatever it's called acting up. (Or at least I hope so.)**

 **The next chapter's coming along slow, even though I have most of what comes after planned out. I actually managed to write out a basic outline for chapters of this stuff a couple of days ago. O.O Complete surprise. This was just supposed to be something I wrote when I got the itch to write. It might take a week to have Chapter 4 finished at this rate though.**

 **Fair warning: Most of the Roger Pirate's adventures will be stated in the First Person POV at the start of each chapter rather than shown. In fact, most of the Gol Arc is really short. In about two chapters or so I'm skipping to the end of Roger's life. All of Felix's adventures with Roger will be flashbacks later on and it'll mostly be character interaction with the main cast. I'm just not confident enough about handling so many OCs at once, though a few will be named for this fic.**

 **Like I said before, I'll probably make another story about certain adventures I reference in this one. That or make additional flashback scenes that last a shitton of time. The Squirrel thing above? Yeah, I have the draft of that written already. I got no idea where it would fit into this fic yet though, so the first option's more likely. (No promises on when that'll be up however.)**

 **Thanks to everyone who Reviewed/Followed/Favorited this story. I didn't expect anyone to really look at this until I got at least 10,000 words up for people to read. It's nice to know that people like this.**

 **Comments, Questions, Concerns? Please Review.**


	4. Gol Arc: Medicine and Misunderstandings

So yeah. Roger got us a crewmate! And it was Silvers Rayleigh!

If there was any chance of me being able to deny being in One Piece before, it's gone kaput now.

Honestly, it was a real stroke of luck that Roger gotRayleigh as his first cremate. Likely in both Canon and this one. Rayleigh is able to navigate the Blues with little to no problem. He's also level-headed, responsible and competent in just about every way necessary on a pirate ship.

Seriously, how the fuck was Roger's luck this good and how can I get me some of that?

Well, regardless, with Rayleigh, we rapidly gathered up more crewmates. He was a lot more capable when picking out someone to join than Roger's method of asking everyone he thinks is cool. We managed to get a swordsman, a cook, a couple of snipers and a lookout. I told Roger and Rayleigh - after Rayleigh was convinced I wasn't a sign that crazy was infectious - that I'd rather not be known to the entire crew. Just those two knowing about me was enough.

With a bigger crew, we soon needed a bigger ship, not that that was much of a problem. We just robbed most of the more… unpleasant pirates we came across of their treasure. Not like they'll need it at the bottom of the sea.

Still, by the time we set off for the Grand Line, we still haven't managed to recruit a capable sea doctor. A few of our crewmates knew basic first aid, but that doesn't make up for the lack of real medical knowledge. The only reason I didn't protest the matter was because I knew Crocus was at the beginning of the Grand Line and we would recruit him before we really set off to our first island.

* * *

"ALRIGHT!" Roge excitedly screams. "THE GRAND LINE!"

None of the pirates around him could seem to keep the smiles off their faces, no matter how small or large they ended up being. This was what they were all waiting for. The Grand Line.

"Cool your heels, Roger." Rayleigh says, amused. In the past few months, he's gotten swept up in Roger's chaos more times than he wants to count, so he's had to get used to going with the flow. Still, someone has to be the reasonable one. "We're not going to be there for a little while yet."

"Boo!" Roger sulks. "You party pooper."

 _:: Did you seriously think we would be there the moment you woke up from your nap? ::_

" _Well no, but I thought we would have at least been able to see the Red Line by now." Roger complains. "Also, are you sure I can't tell any of the others about you? I mean- "_

 _:: For the last time, YES, I'm sure. Goda, just because you don't like speaking to me in your head is not going to make me budge from my decision. ::_

" _Hey, what is Goda anyways?"_

 _:: The God of this world. All he requires to worship him is an interesting story. In our case, living out adventures is plenty. Oh look! We're here! ::_

Roger's head whips to the side as he gets a clear view of the Red Line, easily forgetting about the topic he was discussing with Felix, who wishes he could sweatdrop at how short Roger's attention span could be.

 _:: Roger, you should really get Rayleigh to prep the ship for Reverse Mountain. We need to catch the right current to get through without dying. ::_

" _Got it."_ "Rayleigh!" Roger calls back. "Set the ship to ride the current up Reverse Mountain!"

Rayleigh blinks, though he moves to do what he's ordered to before asking, "Is this something else Felix told you?" The, _just now_ , was left unsaid between them.

"Yep!" Roger nods. "The currents flow up the mountain and then take us down into the Grand Line."

"You know," Flint, the older brother of Fleur and part of a sniper duo with her, asks. "I'd like to meet this Felix one day. It sounds like he knows a lot about the Grand Line. He must have some interesting stories to tell about it."

Roger glances at his Hat, "Nah, he just gave me some advice before I set sail is all. He knows a few things here and there."

 _:: Oh ho? What's this? Roger's able to tell a lie of omission now? I'm so proud of you. ::_

" _Keep that up and I'll tell the others whether you like it or not."_

 _:: Shutting up now! ::_

For the next few minutes, the crew on _The Satisfaction_ moved in practiced motions as Rayleigh shouted out orders to keep the crew on course.

"Alright, that should do it." Rayleigh says as he turns away from the sea with a cruel smirk. "You better hope I didn't get it wrong because if we crash now, we're done for."

"Ah who cares!" Roger laughs, throwing his head back. "There is no better way to die than without regrets!"

"WE CARE YOU IDIOT!" Came the shouts of his crew.

Roger rubs at an ear. "Yeesh, fine. Umm, how about..," Roger tilts his head as if listening to something the crew couldn't hear. "Okay I got it. 'If we don't make it out alive, we'll haunt your afterlife?'"

Rayleigh shakes his head with a small amused smile on his face. "Aye Aye Captain."

 _:: You know, Rayleigh is a lot more amenable to calling you Captain than when we first met him. He must have gotten attached to your brand of chaos. ::_

" _Huh? What are you talking about? Of course he calls me Captain. I'm the Captain."_

 _:: ...It's times like these that I wonder how it's possible for you to be so perceptive about things other people over look and so oblivious to things that are obvious. ::_

"Roger giving you a hard time Felix?" Rayleigh asks in a low voice as the rest of the crew enjoy the ride up Reverse Mountain.

Roger pouts. "I'm not that bad."

"Yes you are." Rayleigh deadpans in coincidental unison with Felix. "I remember the one time you didn't have Felix with you when we went to an island. Never again." Rayleigh feverently swears. "I never want to try to reel you in by myself ever again.

"But-"

"NEVER." Rayleigh glares at Roger.

"Captain!" Flint calls out. "I think I see the top!"

In an instant, Roger appears at the figurehead of the ship, eagerly anticipating the ride back down. From what Felix said, it's supposed to be amazing.

 _:: When have I ever been wrong? Hold onto your Hat, it's gonna be wild! ::_

Roger clasps a hand over his Hat just in time to keep it from being blown off his head by the strong winds as they rush down the other side of Reverse Mountain. Roger whoops and hollers the entire way down along with the rest of his crew.

" _You know, I'm getting flashbacks to the Squirrels. There aren't any giant animals at the end of this ride, is there?"_

 _:: ...ahe. There's just one? ::_

Roger glances up at his Hat in alarm. " _Felix!"_

 _:: It's harmless and probably won't- ah shit. Damn you Murphy. ::_

"All hands on deck!" Rayleigh shouts, having seen what Felix just did. "Hard to Port! There's an opening around it on the left!"

The crew called out affirmatives as they rushed to follow Rayleigh's commands. Rayleigh himself pulls Roger out of the way and grabs Felix off his head and places him rather forcefully on his own.

" _Why the fuck didn't you say anything about the giant whale at the end of Reverse Mountain."_

 _:: ...I thought it wouldn't be there? ::_

"Felix!" Roger whisper shouts. "We nearly crashed because of it."

 _:: He's not as big as he could have been. He'll be twice this size in about thirty years. ::_

" _That doesn't make it better!"_ Rayleigh thinks furiously.

 _:: Well what do you want me to do! I thought it would know to stay clear of the opening of Reverse Mountain! Dozens of ships before us had to pass through here! ::_

" _And dozens probably crashed because of it too."_ Rayleigh sighs. " _Just prepare us before we reach these things next time. And I thought Roger was bad enough."_

 _:: Hey! I heard that! I'm nowhere near as bad as he is! ::_

"I'm still here!" Roger points out.

" _You were meant to. Both of you."_ Rayleigh places Felix back on Roger's head, glancing over Roger's shoulder at the rest of the crew. "Looks like they managed to divert us just in time."

"Yeah, well, we almost didn't." Markel, the cook, says with narrowed eyes and crossed arms. "The heck were you bozos doing back here?"

Rayleigh frowns. "Sorry about that. I thought that Roger forgot to tell me about the giant whale. Turns out that Felix never mentioned it. I'll make sure to leave the reaming for later next time."

"Next time?" Roger complains. "It's not as if I do these things on purpose."

"So _you_ say." Rayleigh mutters. Then in a much louder voice, he says, "I remember this one time, not long after I met you, involving cannibals, cannibals that eat cannibals, and the two of us stuck between them. In fact I vividly remember the clothes you were tricked into wearing too. What was it again? Oh right it-"

"I get it, I get it!" Roger yelps. "I thought we agreed to never speak of that again!"

Rayleigh remains unimpressed. " _You_ did. _I_ wasn't the one who managed to insult their ancestors from three hundred years back."

Markel stares, his previous annoyance forgotten. "Seriously, if you're not going to share what happened stop talking about these things in front of us. Dammit, I'm not going to be able to stop thinking about this for a while." He grumbles as he returns to the galley.

"AGH!" Flint cries out, clutching his side as he collapses by the cannons. The entire crew snaps to alert, searching for their comrade's attacker. It wasn't hard. A man wearing a dark pink sleeveless shirt, a pink hat dotted with black spots, shorts and sandals was standing in plain view of the ship. The most damning thing about the flower-like man were the harpoons he had resting in his hand and on his back.

"Tch." He shoves his glasses further up his face. "I missed."

"#&^$& !" Fleur curses. Despite her flowery name, there was nothing remotely ladylike about her. She could tumble with the guys, knock back an entire cargo ship of alcohol and slap the shit out of the bastards who inevitably hit on her without blinking an eye.

Roger nearly attacked him on sight, if it wasn't for Rayleigh holding an arm out in his way. Only the same fury in Rayleigh's eyes kept Roger from ignoring his request. Request, because they both knew that Roger was stronger, for now.

Rayleigh keeps one eye on Flint until another crewmate is able to patch him up before giving their assailant his full attention. "We're not looking for trouble. We just want to get past to the Grand Line." He says tersely.

 _:: Oh I get it. Roger, we don't have a real doctor. It's better if we don't get hurt fighting just as we start out in Paradise. We could take him down easily, but there's always the chance that our crewmates could get hurt in the crossfire. ::_

"I couldn't give a flying fuck why you're here." Crocus spits, his grip on his weapon tightening. "But that gunner of yours was going to shoot Laboon and I won't stand for that."

"Laboon?" A glint of realization enters Rayleigh's eyes. "The whale."

"That's right." Crocus grunts, watching the entire crew warily. "I was asked to look after him until his Captain came back. Any attacks on him, I'll return tenfold."

"Flint." Rayleigh says, never taking his gaze off their aggressor. "Why were you going to shoot the whale?"

It takes a moment, but Flint manages to croak out, "Wasn't gonna. It was coming- too close to the ship. Was aiming for a warning shot."

"A warning…" Crocus' eyes widen in shock and a hint of guilt enters his features. "I'm sorry. I was too hasty in assuming he was aiming to kill. Too many pirates aim for Laboon's vitals when they try to pass and I assumed that you were the same." He says remorsefully.

Roger relaxes and nods when Rayleigh glances his way. Crocus' Voice was saying he was telling the truth. It genuinely was a misunderstanding.

Crocus himself is unaware of this exchange between Captain and First Mate. Instead, he was paying attention to Flint's treatment. "That's not how you treat an injury that large, especially not when created by a harpoon." His eyes flick up and holds Roger's gaze. "I'm a doctor. I understand that you may not trust me after what I've done, but as it was my fault, I am willing to help him."

Roger doesn't hesitate to accept, much to Fleur's dismay. The crew still keeps an eye on Crocus as he boards the ship and tends to their crewmate, but save for Fleur - who glares at Crocus the entire time - it is less with antagonism and more with caution.

"It'll be around a week until he's well enough to do anything more serious than walking again." Crocus says as he packs his equipment up, having grabbed his medical supplies before boarding. "But other than that, he shouldn't have any problems healing."

"Yeah, from an injury YOU gave him!" Fleur yells, trembling in fury.

Crocus bows his head slightly. "As I said before, I am sorry for that. However, I do not regret acting in Laboon's defense."

"What's up with that anyways?" Roger asks, nearly all animosity gone after Crocus offered to treat Flint. "That's an island whale right? I remember seeing them in West Blue. What's one doing all the way out here?"

Crocus stands. "I suppose you have the right to know considering it's the reason I attacked your crew in the first place."

* * *

"Twenty years, huh?" Rayleigh tilts his head back in thought. "That's awfully long for a pirate crew to leave a friend behind."

Crocus frowns. "I'm aware. At this point I don't have much hope of them being alive, but there's no real way for me to find out what happened to them. I only wish I could tell Laboon their fate, if only so he can make his peace with it and move on, but he won't believe it if there's even a chance I'm wrong."

Roger brightens. "Hey! We need a doctor and it seems like you're plenty strong. Why don't you come with us? You can find out the truth and tell Laboon when you come back."

Crocus raises an eyebrow. "And leave Laboon here alone?"

"Well, why don't we ask him?" Roger doesn't wait for Crocus' answer. "LABOON! DOWN HERE!"

"Gah!" Rayleigh rubs his ear as he was unfortunate enough to be directly next to Roger's eardrum bursting shout. He slaps Roger upside the head. "Don't do that!"

Roger rolls with it, too used to Rayleigh's weak - to him because Rayleigh hasn't learned Haki yet - hits and looks into the island whale's giant eye. "Laboon, Crocus wants to find out what happened to your crew, but doesn't want to leave you here alone. Are you alright with staying here alone for a few years while he travels with us?"

"BWOOO." Laboon bellows.

"Alright, thanks! I promise we'll bring him back to you!" Roger waves.

Crocus slaps Roger upside the head too. "Don't just take that for a yes!"

"But it was." Roger rubs his head. Rayleigh cuts in before Crocus slaps him again.

"Roger has always been able to understand animals. If he says that Laboon agreed, then Laboon agreed."

Crocus turns to Laboon. "Is this true? You really want me to go with them to find out what happened?"

Laboon makes a series of shorter cries that Crocus must have taught him. Crocus leans back, satisfied with Laboon's answer. "If that's what you really want. I'll make sure to come back alive."

Crocus turns back to his new Captain. "Looks like you've got yourself a doctor."

"Yes!" Roger jumps up, fist in the air. "Ah, what's your name again?"

Crocus shakes his head. "My name's Crocus, and I'm one of the best doctors you'll find this side of the Grand Line."

"Good." Rayleigh nods. "With how much trouble our Captain brings, we'll need your expertise. It's fortunate that we came across you so soon."

"Yeah, just a minute here." Fleur interjects. "This guy's joining?" Nods and affirmatives all around. "Then I need to this first."

She steps up and punches Crocus into the Red Line before anyone could really stop her. "That's for my brother you asshole. Now we're even."

Crocus rubs his jaw, already swelling slightly. "Suppose I deserved that."

Fleur snorts. "Damn right you did. Don't do anything like it again and we'll get along just fine."

The men watch her walk back to the ship. "I got off easy?" Crocus asks.

"Yep."

* * *

 **A spark of inspiration hit me recently, so here's the chapter, a lot earlier than I expected, but I don't think anyone's complaining.**

 **And yeah, Roger's always had the Voice of All Things, but having Felix with him all the time made him able to exercise it a lot easier. Luffy could understand animals pretty easily too. Now that Roger's expecting Felix to be able to talk, he's able to hear him even without his Hat on his head. It's not like you try to hear random inanimate objects to talk to you, but now Roger's more prone to listening to the world around him.**

 **I wrote up the Squirrel story mentioned in this chapter and the last one too. It's now in: Tales with Roger. I'll be writing these mostly when I get inspiration from them, though I'll focus more on Hat. Updates for this story will slow down after the 26th. I'm on vacation from school right now so I've got a lot more time to write, even if I'm writing for this half the time when I do write.**

 **As it is? Next chapter skips A LOT of things. I don't want to say anything to spoil it, but if it helps the Gol Arc will end by the 6th chapter and we'll move on to Shanks, which will be even shorter than this one so it'll be less of an arc and more a timeskip. I did keep a timeline of events going though, even if I didn't explore the details.**

 **Comments, Questions, Concerns? Please Review.**


	5. Gol Arc: Red and Black

**So hey, I'm back. Took a while for me to get the time to write this again because of school getting in the way, but I did say that last time. I'm surprised that so many people are following/favoriting this thing. And that it's been continuing since I was gone. You people have my thanks!**

* * *

I haven't needed to do this in a long time, mostly because I didn't have any reason to talk to an audience in my head when I had Roger and Rayleigh with me. The amount of chaos that Roger got us in played a factor too.

It's been a busy 24 years since we Roger Pirates first set foot into the Grand Line. Paradise was just as crazy as the manga made it out to be, and I would know. I highly doubt that any other crew knows Paradise as well as us. Roger never dropped the habit of scouring an ocean as thoroughly as he could before moving onto the next. We spent seven years in Paradise, but that may have been a key factor in our survival in the New World.

In those seven years, the crew grew larger, we obtained the _Oro Jackson_ , met Garp (and _man_ he's insane. I swear, he pops up just when we least expect it.) and visited Skypiea. Let me tell you, it was not fun trying to ignore Roger when I accidentally let it slip that there was an island in the sky. There was no way I was going to win that fight, but it didn't stop me from trying.

And, well, the New World was certainly… something. We recruited some more members, though we started to take in less and less as time went on since we seemed to have all the necessary roles covered. From what I can tell though, most of what was supposed to happen, happened. Fishman Island for one, where Roger spoke to the sea kings, and meeting the Mink rulers for another. Considering that not much was known about Roger's time, I stand firm by my decision to only have Roger and Rayleigh know about me. Who knows what kind of chaos more knowledge of my existence would cause?

The New World was a lot more difficult to explore too. We spent 15 years moving from one island to the next, only to loop around several times to keep from missing anything. Except… It seems like too much has stayed the same. Roger still contracted that incurable disease. I don't know if it's because not enough is known about the New World, the machinations of fate, or because he had it all along and we were only finding out about it now, or what, but the reason why doesn't change the fact that Roger is dying.

I just… Roger and the others are no longer _characters_ to me, they stopped being that once I got to know them. And after all these years, they're my closest friends, even if most of them don't know about me. And Roger, he was the one who I started all of this with. He was the one who asked me to stay when everyone else ran away. To see him die… For all that I never want that to come to pass, I can't muster the hope that there's a cure out there somewhere. Knowing the storyline is a burden more than anything else now.

Roger never gave up that hope though. He set us on course to the North Blue through the Calm Belt. From there, we headed to the East Blue. Nothing in either of those two Blues would be able to help, so we set course for the South Blue.

Now? I'm stuck with my idiotic captain in the middle of the sea with nothing but the clothes on our back because of his damn narcolepsy.

(I would give up everything, though, if it meant Roger would live.)

* * *

 _Growl._

"Ugh." Roger grunts as he lies prone on his small rowboat. "Foood."

 _:: Don't complain. You brought this entirely onto yourself. ::_

Roger whimpers.

 _:: I've been constantly on the lookout for a ship and I haven't found any. Only you would get lost at sea with nothing but the clothes on your back for two weeks. ::_

Roger's head rolls sluggishly.

 _:: I_ tried _to wake you up when the storm started, but NOOO, your damn narcolepsy kept you asleep through it all. I keep telling you to take the medicine that Crocus gives you, but do you listen? ::_

Roger attempts to swat at his Hat, but his hand doesn't even make it halfway before it drops onto the side of the boat.

 _:: You wouldn't have even been in hiding in this damn rowboat if you left Rayleigh alone instead of including him in that prank of yours. Really, how_ did _you get those powder balls and firecrackers. I was with you the whole time. ::_

Roger blinks. Slowly.

 _Sigh. :: Just go to sleep you idiot. I can keep looking even without you awake. ::_

Roger's eyes don't open again. Despite knowing that Roger's just tired from hunger, Felix can't help but check on him periodically to make sure he's alive. His captain worries all of his crew, especially now with his illness plaguing him. This hunger can't be good for his state either.

Fortunately, Felix didn't have to wait long for someone to come across them. (He curses the dearth of sea kings in the blues and he doubly curses that he lacks a body to move them himself. Roger's metabolism had him unable to move much since half a week ago. And that's after Felix told him not to move to save energy.)

The strawberry-blond woman pauses as she sights a rowboat in the middle of the sea. She would have turned away and left it as a stray boat had it not been for the hand just visible on the side. On a whim, she turns her boat to it. She's feeling generous today.

She ties the boat to hers and sails back to her side of the island, unknowing of it's hungry and grateful passengers.

* * *

"Foood." Roger sits up groggily, nose following the scent of soup. He doesn't so much as look at it's transport and just takes the entire pot and steadily swallows it down.

It's only when he finishes that he reaches for his head and panics. "Felix! Felix where are you?"

"Are you talking about this hat?" The yellow straw and red ribbon pops into Roger's sight. Once again, he manages to ignore the voice as he snatches his Hat back.

"Felix!" He cheers, eagerly greeting his longtime companion.

 _:: ARE YOU AN IDIOT! THANK THIS POOR WOMAN ALREADY! ::_

Roger winces at the unexpected scolding, finally taking notice of the woman in the room with him. "Eh? Who are you?"

 _:: My soul for a way to slap the shit out of you. I don't know how many times I've asked Goda for this, and I don't know how many more times I have to ask, but I will wait and I will savor it once I can. ::_

The woman herself is ignorant of this exchange and simply raises an eyebrow. "I'm the one who hauled your sorry behind out of the sea, half dead from hunger. I'd think twice about what you say next."

Roger very nearly visibly reviews his last few memories. "Ah right. Felix told me to thank you for that."

 _:: You moron. ::_

"Your… hat… told you to thank me." She flatly repeats.

"Ah! No!" Roger denies, looking panicked and untruthful. "My Hat can't speak to me at all!"

"Riiiight." She drawls. "You look like you have plenty of energy. Get out of my house."

"Eh?" Roger blinks.

She ignores him. "I expect you gone by the time I get back from town. If you're still here, I'll kick you out myself."

"But-" Roger cuts himself off when she leaves without another word. "... My crew isn't here."

 _:: You see? This is why I keep reminding you to not tell people. Now you just estranged the very nice lady who saved your life and fed you. ::_

"Well, whatever." Roger sweeps himself of the couch. "I'm sure we can get someone in town to let us stay for a while until the others get here."

* * *

"What do you mean you're not open?" Roger whines. The clerk gives him a disturbed look. It was very strange to see a grown man act like a kid.

"Exactly what I said." The clerk repeats. "You arrived in the middle of July. Baterilla celebrates it as the month of the dead. During this month, we don't allow anyone to come and go as they please. In fact, much of the island prepares for this month by trading everything we can in June. It's unfortunate that you ended up here at this time, but until the end of May, no one will be willing to take anyone in. It's superstition that it'll offend the spirits that take the time to watch their family and friends. It looks like you have already experienced the way most people around here treat outsiders at this time of year."

Roger wipes off the mud on his clothes a bit more, but only manages to smear it around. "Yeah, I noticed. Did you know some people even went and _made_ some mud to throw at me?"

"Ah, that might not be mud." Roger freezes and stares at his hand in disgust. "And that's exactly why I can't take you. If I make an exception for you now, it'll be bad for business in the future. Sorry, but you're on your own."

Roger sighs, but leaves, immediately getting hit with a glob of mud - He refuses to believe it's anything else. Only the lack of a particular smell lets him keep this belief. - from behind. When he looks back, the clerk ducks back into his hotel/shop, a dirtied hand telling who threw the mud at him.

" _Well,"_ Roger thinks at Felix. " _Looks like we have to go back."_

Roger gets a distinctly unimpressed vibe from Felix. _:: You go do that. Let me know when you're tired of punishment. ::_

* * *

"Hey!" Roger grins. "Looks like I need to stay with you until my crew comes!"

"No." She slams the door in his face.

Roger rapidly bangs on the door with both hands, falling on his knees. "Aw, come on! I can't stay out here until they come! I just need a place to stay."

Footsteps. Roger brightens and stands up.

He finds himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

 _Bang_.

He yelps as he ducks beneath it just in time to avoid the shot. It wouldn't have hurt him anyways, what with Armament and all, but she had no way of knowing that. Roger looks at her with teary eyes, looking very much like a downtrodden puppy.

She kicks his face and he's tossed back several yards. The click of several locks is very obvious in the next moment.

Undeterred, Roger moves to a window nearby. He smushes his face against it while her back is turned. She looks at him in disbelief when she notices. "Pleasepleaseplease."

She grabs her shotgun.

* * *

"LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!" She screams, brandishing her gun in his face.

"NO." Roger refuses, knocking the gun out of her hands at the same time.

"IT'S BEEN A WEEK, YOU CLEARLY DON'T NEED TO STAY WITH ME!"

"Don't wanna."

"AAAGGGHHH!" She stomps away, Roger nipping at her heels the entire time, dodging any attacks she throws at him with ease.

"You know," Roger remarks. "You're nothing like the cold, standoffish woman that the villagers describe you as."

"AND WHOSE FAULT DO YOU THINK THAT IS?" Her eyes narrow further. "You're an annoying, persistent bastard. You make me curse. Do you know how much it takes me to curse? A whole fucking lot that's what."

Roger grins. "You're not yelling at me anymore!"

"That's what you focus on?" She sighs and rubs her temples. "Well, what do you want? I don't want to deal with you anymore."

"What's your name?" Roger asks.

She gives him a flat look. "You were a pest to my nice solitary life because you wanted to know my name." She says slowly and clearly.

"Yep." Roger nods.

She closes her eyes. "And you couldn't ask the villagers, why?"

Roger's fist hits his palm. "Oh that's right. I could have done that."

Her hands twitch for her gun and she regrets leaving it behind. Oh well, she'll make due.

* * *

 _:: Why did I have to get hit! It was all your fault that she was so annoyed! ::_

" _You don't have a bump the size of a melon. Deal with it."_ Roger thinks as he rubs his head. Dammit, it still hurt. She might have subconsciously used Haki in that hit. That just makes her more interesting.

She turns and watches Roger before she enters her house. After a long moment she says, "You're not going to stop, are you." It's not a question.

"Nope."

"Why do you want to know my name so much?"

Roger looks into the sky. "Well… I just wanna."

She rolls her eyes. "Of course." She says sarcastically.

"AH!" Roger points at her with an aghast look on his face. "I completely forgot that I didn't tell you my name! I was supposed introduce myself first right?"

She blinks. "Wait, wha-"

Roger extends a hand and grins. "Nice to meet you! My name's Gol D. Roger!"

"D?" She asks, stunned.

"Yeah! It's because-"

"I know why." She cuts him off, piercing him with her stare. "What I don't understand is why you use it. Don't you know what it means to be a D?"

Roger tilts his head in thought. "I don't hide it because I'm proud of it, my parents gave me my name. They told me stories about what it meant to have a D too. Want me to tell you?"

Roger doesn't wait for her reply before he starts babbling, all the while dragging her inside to the couch where they could sit. Strangely, she doesn't resist as much as she could have.

* * *

"And that's the Will of D." Roger finishes with a soft smile on his face.

A long silence hangs in the air.

"My name is Portgas D Rouge." Rouge looks up. "And let me tell you what my parents told me about being D."

* * *

"Carrying out the will of the past?" Roger boggles. "That's nothing like what I grew up knowing!"

Rouge snorts demurely. "Well it's why I made the decision to live a quiet life. I don't know if someone that died wanted me to do something, but it's my life and choice. I won't have my desires decided for me."

Roger pouts. "And here I wanted to ask you to join my crew."

Rouge raises a palm. "No. I'm not leaving the island."

Roger opens his mouth and closes it just as fast at the stab of surprise from Felix, head snapping out to the sea. "They're here!"

 _:: Well, don't let them leave! Flare your aura already! ::_

"Your crew?" Rouge asks, amused.

"Yeah!" Roger feels them moving closer to the shore after his signal. He grabs her hand. "Come on!"

* * *

"You sure I can't convince you to change your mind?" Roger asks Rouge, who rolls her eyes.

"No, I was perfectly happy before you shoved your way into my life. Hurry up and go already."

"Then!" He points a finger at her. "One day, I'll come back and show you that it's not so bad to be a D! It's a promise!"

Rouge doesn't splutter, but it's a close thing. "Who told you to make such a stupid promise!"

Roger laughs as he dodges her slap at his head and rapidly boards the _Oro Jackson_. He waves as the ship pulls away. "Remember! It's a promise!"

Rouge turns away and heads back to her house once they disappear from view, hiding the smile that she couldn't keep off her face. "What a ridiculous man."

* * *

 **Super long ass author's note here, FYI. None of it's really important, just my thoughts while characterizing Rouge. Thought I'd share in case other people have problems with my reasoning.**

 **Trying to figure out how to characterize Rouge was hard. So I started with someone to work off of, Ace. He looks a lot like his father and has a lot of his father's stubbornness, but he had to get something** _ **other**_ **than his freckles from his mother, right? Right.**

 **I imagine that Rouge was a lot like Ace was when he first met Luffy considering that Luffy has Roger's Will and so I made her easily irritated by Roger. Note, that I specified Roger. Here, Rouge acts exactly how Roger heard the villagers describe her. It's only with Roger that she loses her temper so easily. She kept most of the villagers at arms length too, with only a couple of people knowing that she's a D. Much like how Ace only told Sabo that he was the Pirate King's son.**

 **It's not like she will always act like Ace to Luffy though. At the end, she treats him a lot more casually. Kinder and more like how she was in the story. With more time with Roger, she'll love him enough to have Ace and give him Roger's name. Luffy and Roger are people who change the views of those they come across and I can't see even a D (like Law) not changing at least a little because of them.**

 **But then I had a problem. There would need to be a reason why Rouge acts like Ace, who hates his father's blood, so I thought about the one thing I know for a fact that Roger and Rouge have in common, their name.**

 **A random thought I had once about an SI-OC being a D is the pressure to live up to it. I thought that people should be more concerned about carrying out the desires of past people. Shouldn't they think "why should I have to follow a stranger's choices?" because if there was, say, an SI as Luffy, why should they follow Roger's will when he's a complete stranger? Why did they have to change to become what someone else wanted?**

 **So I took this idea and ran with it. As a kid, Rouge is told to live up to those ideals and since I see her as pretty smart, she understands (her parents die while she's young). What her parents are trying to tell her is to do what she wants and live her life to the fullest because it not only shows respect to the past, she'll be able to achieve her own dream at the same time. Only, she misunderstands and takes it as "you were born to complete their dream for them" to which she thinks "fuck that shit" and decides to live peacefully and not get involved in anything that could ruin that, hence her cold attitude to most people, because like hell she'll do anything with her life that she doesn't want to.**

 **Ironically, following this line of thought, I imagine Rouge's will to be from a man/woman who was unable to have children before they died and wished for nothing more than to have a kid.**

 **Comments, Questions, Concerns? Please Review.**


	6. Gol Arc: Renovatione

Yeah, so. Meeting Rouge. That happened.

I don't even really know how to feel about that. I mean, sure, I kept Roger company most nights, but I couldn't really seem to react. As much as I am glad that Roger found her - someone who will love him with everything she has and he will love as fiercely in return - I only felt, I don't know, numb? I can't really describe it very well, sue me.

Silly huh? I wasn't even really meant to be here and here I am getting torn up about Roger finding someone to be happy with. Jealousy? Really? It's not like I have a claim over him and I certainly don't love Roger in _that_ way.

I suppose… the more things happening that lead up to Roger's death are just getting to me.

AGH! Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts! No more of this emo angst!

SO! We went onto the West Blue, where we met Shanks and Buggy! Seriously, it's weird seeing them as brats who don't know what they're doing at sea when you know what they're going to be in the future. _Seriously_.

Like I thought, there was nothing helpful in any of the Blues, so we cut back into the Grand Line to the New World. Roger announced that the search would continue there, but I could tell differently. He felt… Not resigned. I don't think a D would ever give up, but maybe… at peace with whatever happens?

He started feeling like that after meeting Rouge, so I guess if nothing else I'm thankful that we met her. Or he really, since she doesn't know me. I don't think he noticed his own feelings for her quite yet either, the oblivious idiot. Still, I hope to meet her again. If nothing else, I could finally reveal myself to her and meet her properly.

Yeah, I think I'd like that.

Shiki was a pain in the ass. And it wasn't as much of a stroke of luck that the Golden Lion's fleet was half wiped out by a storm as it was just the strength of our crew. Roger's Conqueror's Haki knocked out the crews of the ships he could reach and, unattended, the ships sunk in the storm.

So yeah, the marines were misinformed/deliberately lied about the incident, though it wouldn't be surprising if they tried to downplay Roger's strength either. It wasn't long after the Edd War that Roger managed to do what he set out to do.

Roger conquered the Grand Line! We managed to reach Raftel! Roger achieved his dream to see all the seas at the Grand Old Age of 52! We both came a long way from when we started out 29 years ago.

However, with the discovery of Raftel, also came the end of the Roger Pirates. It is the island of the beginning and the end to me, for all that Logue Town will come to be known as the city version.

* * *

" _WHAT?!_ " The Roger Pirates roared in outrage.

"You heard me." Roger tilts his Hat to shadow his face. "Starting today, the Roger Pirates are officially disbanded."

Crocus steps forward, a furious expression on his face. "This is about your illness, isn't it."

" _Terminal_ illness." Roger corrects, though not unkindly. "Call it what it is Crocus. It's going to kill me, and soon."

Roger looks up to meet the eyes of his crew. " _When_ I die - and no one try to deny it - the Marines are going to go after the rest of you. I'm not saying you can't handle yourselves," Roger cuts off the cries of offense before they can really begin, "though some certainly can better than others, but it'll look bad for them if the Pirate King dies by something other than their hands. That's why I'm going to turn myself in."

The cacophony of noise that bursts from the crew was made of pure outrage. The crew nearly turned their shouts on their first mate as well, but it was telling how Rayleigh's head whipped around to stare at Roger in shock and fury.

" **Quiet** _ **.**_ " Roger orders, a bit of Conqueror's Haki leaking into his voice. When there's nothing but silence, he speaks again. "Sorry, but you all need to listen. Especially you Rayleigh." He faces his longtime companion. "I know I didn't discuss it with you before, but it's the only way everyone will be able to live their own lives. If I die hidden away, the Marines will never stop looking for me- for any of us."

"But Captain!" Shanks cries out, drawing the attention of the crew. Beside him, Buggy surprisingly looks like he agrees with him for once. "There's still time! We can still-!"

"No." Roger shakes his head. "We traveled all the seas and I paid close attention to the Voice of All Things. There is no cure because it hasn't been made yet. At this point, I don't think we'll be able to find within the next two years and that's all the time I have left. I'm a dead man walking," He smirks, "although I bet the Marines wish it was because of them."

A few chuckles rise, but the tension on deck kills any more before they slip out.

Shanks is undeterred. "But-!"

"Shanks." Roger cuts him off, a rare somber expression on his face. "If we were to stick together any longer, there's a chance that some of us will be tracked down by the marines. This has to be the end."

Shanks slumps over. He knows that tone from his captain. No one has ever managed to stop him when he uses it.

Shanks looks up when he feels a hand on his shoulder and sees Captain Roger smiling down at him. "Cheer up. Goodbyes don't have to be sad, you know?"

Roger turns and faces his entire crew. "We Roger Pirates have never done anything quietly. We started loud and proud, so we'll end it the same way! Let's have it!" The crew can feel the grins creeping up on all of them, no matter how upset they were. Their Captain is special like that. "THE PARTY TO END ALL PARTIES!"

"YEAH!" They cheer, breaking out anything and everything they could use. It was their last day with their captain. They won't let it end with regrets.

* * *

 _:: You're really doing this then, Roger? ::_

Roger glances at his Hat before returning his gaze to his crew. It's nearly daylight and the party was still going strong purely because not many wanted to waste time sleeping that they could use to . He could see several people struggling to stay awake, but they refused to sleep the rest of the day away.

Roger himself was pulled in every direction early on and he obliged. He made sure to spend time with each and every one of his crew members. It would be the final time he could after all. There's just one more thing he needs to so.

 _:: Roger? ::_

He ignores his longtime friend as he spots that distinctive flaming red hair and approaches his cabin boy. Roger knows that Felix was planning to stay with him to the end, but he can't let that happen. This is for his own good.

"Shanks." Shanks turns at the sound of his name and follows when Roger gestures below deck. He closes the door behind him, leaving the noise behind them muffled.

"What did you want to see me for, Captain?" Shanks asks, curiosity evident in every inch of his voice.

Roger leans against the wall and tilts his head. "You're going to start your own crew when you leave today, right?"

 _:: ...Roger? ::_

 _Please, don't be doing what I think you're doing._

Shanks blinks at the abrupt change of topic. "Uh, yeah. I am."

"Why?" Roger bluntly asks.

Shanks pulls a grin worthy of his crew and cheekily says, "How else will I be able to have what I love: sake, the sea, sake, adventure and sake?"

Roger laughs and plops his Hat on Shank's head with a smile. "Well then I think I know you well enough to trust you with this. Meet my first crew member, Felix."

 _:: Roger! What in the world makes you think I would be alright with this? ::_

Roger ignores Shanks' startled look with ease and replies. "You may be willing to go down with me Felix, but I'm one who's dying. You still have a life to live. The marines won't let me keep you, you know that."

 _:: So you're just going to give me away to Copperhead here?! ::_

"Hey!" Shanks assumes an offended look. "I can hear you!"

 _:: I know Coppers. Anyone who wears me can hear me. It's not like I can ignore whose head I'm on. ::_

Roger rolls his eyes. "Try to get along with him Felix. After all, you'll be with him from now on."

 _:: Don't I get a say in this? I won't leave you! ::_

"No, you don't." Roger gives his friend a stony glare. Shanks freezes, caught between them. "I won't get my best friend killed, Felix. And if you care about me at all, you'll respect my final wishes."

The Hat seems to sag. Shanks swears blind that the only reason he buckled at that moment was because it gained a thousand pounds in an instant.

 _:: ...That was a low blow Roger. ::_

Roger tilts his chin up defiantly. "If it'll get you to stay with Shanks and away from the marines, I'll pull out everything I need to against you."

 _:: … Nothing I say will change your mind, will it? ::_

Roger shakes his head. "Nope."

 _Sigh. :: Sometimes I wish you weren't such a stubborn bastard. ::_

 _And I always wish I wouldn't crumble before the face of your will. If it was anyone but you…_

A small wry smile forms at the corner of Rogers lips. "I know you love me anyways." He teases.

 _:: Goda only knows why. ::_

They fall into a comfortable silence. An awkward cough directs their attention at the decidedly uncomfortable cabin boy.

"Ah, not that I'm not happy that the two of you made up," Shanks glances between them before deciding to focus on the person he could see more than hear. "But what exactly is going on?"

Roger blinks.

A fist smacks into an open palm. "That's right! I completely forgot about that!"

Shanks sweatdrops. "Then why did you even call me here?" He mutters to himself.

"Felix is one of a kind." Roger continues blithely. "As far as we know, there's not a single Hat out there like him. And because he has a conscious, he is capable of Haki. In fact, due to his lack of a body to fight with, his Haki is stronger than most people. Rayleigh and I are as good with Haki as we are because Felix was able to see what we were doing wrong with it when we started."

Excitedly, Shanks looks up at the brim and asks, "That's awesome! Are you going to teach me too?"

 _:: Mm. You'd have to unlock your Haki first, Copperhead. Train using the methods Rayleigh gave you first before asking me for help. ::_

"Alright!" Shanks cheers.

Roger's head turns to the door. "Well speak of the devil."

Rayleigh opens the door and sticks his head through. "Preparations are being made to sail off. We're dividing the ships among people who are heading in similar directions." His eyes flicker over to Shanks' head and his lips quirk up. "So you've met Felix then?"

"Yeah." Shanks nods. "Cap- Roger said that Felix is staying with me from now on."

Rayleigh steps in the room and holds a hand out. "May I?"

"Sure." Shanks moves to hand his Hat over, but Rayleigh shakes his head.

"I was asking Felix." Rayleigh clarifies and Shanks flushes slightly in embarrassment. It was going to be a while before he got used to a hat being their own person.

 _:: It's fine. You didn't mean anything by it. Pass me over to Rayleigh. ::_

"Felix agreed." Shanks says as he gives Rayleigh the Hat, not really meeting his eyes.

 _:: Hello Rayleigh. ::_

" _Hello Felix."_ Rayleigh's smile grows a little. " _It's been a while."_

 _:: It'll be longer than this the next time we talk. ::_

" _Probably not that long. You said it yourself, Shanks has the potential to be great one day."_

 _:: Is that why Roger asked me to stay with him? ::_

" _I think his personality came into play too, but you're probably right about that."_

 _:: Roger really just does whatever he wants, huh? ::_

Rayleigh watches Roger capture Shanks in a headlock. " _Would we really want him any other way?"_

 _:: No, not at all. None of our adventures would have been as fun if he was. ::_

Shanks manages to get a leg behind Roger's and Roger lets him take him down, laughing. " _Hey, Felix?"_

 _:: Hm? ::_

" _Whenever Roger's… when he turns himself in, I'm not going to be there. I've thought about it - even if I'd rather have done anything else - but I can't watch him die."_

 _:: Did you think he would care? So long as his crew is safe from harm, I think Roger would die without regrets. If you can't bring yourself to come, then don't stress over it too much. ::_

" _Yes, but I can't even be there in your place."_

 _:: As if you could replace me. And… Roger's right. Some of the crew are just too well known, and that includes you. Roger may be dying, but I won't lose any more people if I can help it. You're a fantastic first mate Rayleigh, and the very best of friends."_

Rayleigh closes his eyes and lets a sad smile appear on his face. " _It's been a pleasure sailing with you Felix."_

 _:: Same here Rayleigh. Same here. Farewell. ::_

" _Until next time."_ Rayleigh reaches a hand up and gently takes off the Hat giving it a final smile. He looks up and feels his face fall flat. "How the hell did you do this in the five minutes I was talking with Felix?"

Roger smiles sheepishly. "I thought I could do it this time!"

Rayleigh shakes his head, walking closer to free Shanks first, placing Hat on the redhead at the same time. "Roger, if I told you once, I told you a thousand times. You'll never be able to lasso. Every time you get near a rope of any kind, you somehow manage to make the biggest knot possible between you and everyone around you. It's a miracle that I wasn't caught along with you two."

Roger pouts. "Meaaan."

"Hey, what's the hold up?" A random crew member opens the door to the sight of Roger and Shanks in a web of rope and Rayleigh attempting to free them. "Ah, this again."

"Yea, this again." Rayleigh grumbles. "I swear, I can untie just about anything because of all the practice you gave me."

"Oi, Rayleigh." Rayleigh glances over briefly. "What is it?"

"Since we're leaving the ship here, do we really need that rope? Why don't you just cut it?" Rayleigh freezes. Slowly, he inches his head up to look his cap- Roger in the eyes. Sure enough, there is a smug look on his face.

"Yeah Rayleigh." Roger mocks. "Why don't you just cut it?"

Rayleigh clenches and unclenches his hands. He glares at the crewmate still in the door. "Look at what you've done! He's never going to drop it now! And _I'm_ the one _stuck with him_!"

"Aw come on mister-swordsman-who-forgets-he-has-a-sword," Roger gleefully teases, a mischievous gleam in his eye. Shanks is watching with a shit-eating grin on his face. That boy is just too much like Roger sometimes. "It's just until we reach Baterilla. Only a month."

"A month alone with _you_. Like _this._ " Rayleigh accuses, pinching his brow.

Roger beams. "It's going to be great!"

Rayleigh groans.

* * *

Felix listens to Roger's and Rayleigh's voices for as long as he can as they sail away from them, desperately wishing he could have gone along.

" _Felix?"_ Shanks prods gently at cap- Rog- _his_ Hat. " _Are you okay?"_

 _:: ...It's times like these that I wish I could cry like you can. No, I'm not okay, but- I think I can be. Maybe. ::_

Shanks smiles sadly. " _I'll miss everyone too."_ He stares into the sky. " _Hey, I'm going to go to Roger's execution. Will you be fine with coming with me?"_

 _Snort. :: If you're offering me one last chance to see my best friend, you're crazy to think I'll turn that down. ::_

" _Awesome."_ Shanks grins.

* * *

 _:: Shanks, Shanks! Hide me! Take me off and place me underneath your cloak before the Marines see! ::_

Shanks wastes no time in following Felix's instructions. With the Hat hidden, the group of marines chasing them storms straight past them in the alley. When he can't hear or see them anymore, Shanks breathes a sigh of relief.

"Jeez." Shanks hooks the Hat around his neck by the string before covering it with his cloak again. "Looks like they thought Roger escaped when they saw you."

 _Frown. :: Yeah. Maybe you should keep me like this until you're strong enough for it not to matter. That or until the marines forget about Roger wearing a Straw Hat. Roger's face without me on his head was posted for that article announcing his execution so it might not be too long. ::_

"Well, hopefully they'll forget sooner rather than later." Shanks turns around and heads towards the center of the city. "Though this ruins my plan to display you in the air for Roger to see."

 _:: The fact that you were going to do that in the first place means a lot. It's the marines who are frightened of a Hat. It's more pathetic since they don't even know I can think. ::_

Shanks barks a laugh. "Of course!" He shades his eyes with a hand and looks at the sun. "Looks like it's nearly time. We better hurry."

 _:: Then what are you waiting for? GO GO GO! I am NOT missing my Best Friend's execution! ::_

Shanks was off the moment Felix started talking. Sprinting through the crowd, they just managed to see the scaffold as Roger took his position on top. Shanks skids to a stop at the edge of the crowd despite wanting to get closer. He knows better than to make his association with Roger known now.

Still, he sidles against the walls and only half listens to the marines' announcement. Shanks can do this much, even with the marines on alert.

As Roger gets on his knees, he looks over the crowd contently. These people may have come to see his death, but they did so for a dying man. His time was up; if anything, this made a far more memorable end than fading from illness.

A flash of familiar red on the crowd's fringes catches his eye and he subtly follows it to his cabin boy. Oh, that's right. He's not a Captain anymore. He snickers. Even after a year, it's hard to remember that he gave up his crew.

A marine backhands him for laughing, but he falters when Roger hits him with a piercing stare. "Now that wasn't very nice." He remarks casually, smirking at the marine's obvious alarm. "I was just remembering some fond times in the past."

That spot of red moves and Roger's eyes follow it to the wall, keeping his head still. The marines' attention are off Shanks right now and he doesn't really want to expose his ca- _old_ cabin boy.

The marines on either side of him prepare their swords when Shanks lifts the cover of his cloak from himself just enough to expose the Hat underneath for a moment, but a moment was plenty of time.

Roger can hear his voice now that he knows he's there. He can hear Felix one more time before he passes and an unbidden smile appears on his face. Felix's voice is full of memories and nostalgia; and though there is a hint of sadness too, it's not drowning him. He catches bit's of Shanks' intentions as he listens and his smile grows. It looks like he made the right choice in handing Felix to him.

"HEY!" An unidentifiable voice calls out from the crowd, dragging Roger's attention away, though a part of him is still listening to his old friend. "WHERE IS IT? WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE? THE GREATEST TREASURE IN THE WORLD!"

" **WHERE IS THE ONE PIECE?!** "

A moment of silence hangs in the air before Roger bursts into laughter, ignoring the marines panicking around him. Really, he's about to die and these people weren't concerned about "Justice". Apparently, some just want to know where his treasure is. He'll never really understand greed for treasure, but what the hell. It could be one last interesting thing he pulls off.

"My treasure?" Roger grins mischievously, even as the blades rise to strike. "You can have it! It's all at that place! It's at Raftel, the island at the end of the Grand Line!"

 _::_ _ **ROGER!**_ _::_

The blades fell, but too late. The last words of the Pirate King set off the crowd and reporters were going insane. There would be papers of the Pirate King's last act spreading across the Blues before the marines would be able to do anything about it. Even in death, Roger stole a victory straight out of the marine's hands.

In the chaos left in the wake of Roger's death, a certain redhead and Hat snuck away.

Shanks pulls the hood further down his face, hiding the way he bit his lip and the tears pouring from his eyes. At the slow, stumbling pace he set it took Shanks the better part of an hour to reach the ship that would give him a ride to the next island.

Swinging his legs over the edge, Shanks stares out into the sea. The tears were mostly gone now, but every now and then a stray tear dared to make its way down his face.

 _:: You know what Shanks? I think…. I think seeing Roger die like that - smiling and causing mayhem and havoc as the last moment of his life - well, I think it's the best end he could have wanted. It doesn't make it better, but Roger died with no regrets. ::_

"Yeah." Shanks whispers with a faint smile on his lips. "I'm glad we came."

 _:: Thank you Shanks. You didn't want to be here either, but you came because of me - don't try to deny it! I will never be able to repay you for that. ::_

Shanks shakes his head. "No. Didn't you just hear me? This was good for me too. There's nothing to repay. Besides," He grins and looks up at his Hat, eyes red rimmed but finally dry. "Anything for a friend, right?"

 _:: Of course. ::_

Practically radiating contentment, though there was some sorrow mixed in, Felix and Shanks sit in silence as they pass the time by.

"The sunset sure is beautiful today." Shanks remarks.

 _:: It's fitting for the day of the beginning and end of an era. ::_

 _It's a fitting end for the day of Roger's passing. He deserves nothing less._

* * *

 **So here's the chapter! Most of this struggled to get out and even the beginning of the next part is fighting me too. I'm hoping I'll be able to get through it faster than this time, but you should expect the next chapter to come out sometime between 1-2 weeks.**

 **For the record, Felix the Hat has no gender. It's a HAT. It doesn't have hormones or a reproductive system to make it feel one way or the other. Even mentally, Felix is cool with being identified by however. This is mostly because I, personally, don't care how people address me. I've never been mistaken for the other gender before, but it doesn't really matter. You can refer to it however you want to, so go ahead and pick. Just know that I'm never going to tag Felix as one way or the other.**

 **And yeah, let me get this straight before people inevitably ask about it. I WILL HAVE NO PAIRINGS FOR THIS STORY. I may joke about relationships, I may reference them in side characters, I will have canon pairings in the story (such as Rouge and Roger so Ace would be born), but the main characters will NOT be paired with anyone. I don't care to write romance and I'm horrible at it besides. The remark above was just to show how scatterbrained Felix is about Roger's death, the canon interaction with Rouge, and just about every other problem that popped up his way so far.**

 **Comments, Questions, Concerns? Please Review.**


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